The bar muscle-up takes you from hanging under the pull-up bar to supported above it in one explosive movement - a violent kip, a pull that brings the hips to the bar, and a fast turnover into the press-out. It's generally learned before the ring muscle-up (the fixed bar is more stable) but demands a bigger pull, since there's no swinging the rings toward you. Since 2016 it has been an Open staple, making it one of the most competition-relevant skills an athlete can own.
| Level (Reps) | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| beginner | 0-1 | 0 |
| novice | 2-3 | 1-2 |
| intermediate | 5-7 | 3-5 |
| advanced | 10-13 | 7-10 |
| elite | 16+ | 13+ |
Max unbroken reps.
Where does your Bar Muscle Up land?
Log it once and the app places you on this table automatically, then tracks the trend.
The secret is the hip drive, not the arms: a big arching kip that throws your hips toward the bar, then pull the bar to your waist as you sit over it. Keep the turnover fast and lean forward decisively - hesitating on top of the bar is the universal miss. Chicken-wing (one arm at a time) means the pull is ending too low: build more explosive hip contact first. Prerequisites: solid chest-to-bar pull-ups and straight-bar dips. Volume in small sets; bar muscle-up fatigue arrives suddenly.
Progression: chest-to-bar pull-ups, banded bar muscle-ups, jumping bar muscle-ups from a box, then the full skill. In WODs substitute 2 chest-to-bar + 2 dips per rep.
Log every result, see your progress over time, and know exactly where you stand.
Free on iOS and Android. No account needed to start.